No Service
by VodkaWarrior
Summary: While on a walk, Meg stumbles upon a cell phone with a mystery contact on it. She and the mystery person create a strong unbreakable bond together, but Meg is wary. Who is this person? Would The Entity approve or is this it's doing? Determined to find out the truth, Meg dives in head first, unwilling to give up the newfound love she somehow discovered in this hell.
1. Chapter 1

Meg Thomas took a walk in the woods one day.

Meg Thomas being a short tempered red-head who just wanted to go home. Though, besides the hair, that describes most of the people she spends her time with in this hellish nightmare. They were pretty unbearable at the best of times, but this time her adventure wasn't to escape their typical kind of arguing. She just stood up, turned around, and started walking. Meg wasn't sure what compelled her to do it, but here she was, making her way through this stupid forest one step at a time.

The red-head raised her head and looked up to the tops of the trees all around her. She was convinced when she first arrived, but Meg wasn't fooled by the accuracy of the leaves flowing in the breeze anymore. The Entity had a vast knowledge of a lot of things, like how leaves were supposed to look and how they were supposed to move, but there was something undeniably off about the forest all around her. She spotted a pile of leaves just ahead along the path she had been following and stepped over to it, kneeling down and grabbing a hand full of the brownish leaves, crinkling them between her fingers and letting them fall to the ground. They almost felt like real leaves. They almost held the softness that they were supposed to, but they were a little too textured. They felt almost like paper.

Meg never thought she would miss what leaves felt like.

With a resigned sigh, she began to push herself back to standing upright, but when she placed her hand down to keep her balance, her fingers landed on some kind of hard rectangular object below her. She paused and stared at the pile in confusion. She brushed the leaves aside and saw underneath the pile was… some kind of phone? It wasn't like any kind she'd ever seen before, at least not like the ones that existed before she came here.

Why was there a phone hidden in a pile of leaves? The Entity didn't just leave things lying around, so this has to be some kind of mistake, right? Meg pressed the power button slowly and the screen lit up bright white with a single apple with a bite out of it in the middle of the screen. Not only was there a phone in the nightmare, but it also worked? How was it charged? How long had it been there? She had so many questions.

Meg sat down on the ground Indian style, brushing the stray dirt off of the screen as she waited for it to completely power on. She moved her thumb across a button under the screen, taking in the feeling of the ridges on the smooth surface of the face of the phone. It had been so long since she had held anything even close to a phone before, and the last time she had they didn't look like this. They were smaller and you could open and close them, not to mention there was a keypad where you could type in numbers and text people.

Before she could think any more thoughts the apple disappeared and was replaced with a picture of space and a small blue square in the top left corner with text under it that read "Messages." Above the square was a bar across the screen with five little smaller bars standing next to each other that were all different sizes, biggest to smallest. She brought the phone closer to her face and looked at everything a little better. The picture of space must be the wallpaper, but she had no idea what the blue square was. The bars at the top left must be how good the connection is. Five bars was a pretty strong signal. She wondered what that could mean.

Meg looked down at the button under the screen again, thinking this through. How was she supposed to use this thing? She pressed on the button and the screen shifted. It swiped left and showed a bar at the top that said search. Okay, well that did something. She pressed the button again and the blue square flew in from the right, back into it's original place. Weird. Maybe she could…

Meg moved her thumb over to the blue square and pressed it against the screen. The blue box expanded quickly suddenly and something else now covered the screen. Replacing the space background was now some kind of fancy looking messaging program. Okay, so this kinda was like her old phone that she had, but it was a little newer. It reminded her of the touch screen panels she had seen in science fiction movies before. This phone must be from the future, or at least what year it is now since Meg was taken and trapped in this place. …How long had it been anyway?

She pushed those thoughts away quickly before they could really surface. That was a big bowl of crap she'd have to deal with at some point, but today was not that day. She checked to make sure they were locked tight behind several layers in her mind.

Suddenly the slight breeze that had always carried through the forest came to a chilling stop. Dead silence fell over Meg, causing her to snap her head up and look around in panic. Had the Entity found her? Was it going to punish her for finding this phone? Was it going to correct it's mistake?

_Ding!_

Meg jumped a little in surprise, casting her eyes all around looking for the source of the sound.

_Ding!_

She blinked, looking down at the cell phone in her hand. It was the phone that had made that sound.

"Two New Messages From NightDream!"

NightDream? Who could that possibly be? How was any of this possible? Ignoring her doubts, she tapped on the notification, wondering not only who could be contacting her, but what they had to say.

"Not so fast! Let your friends know who is contacting them!"

A menu came up with a blank space under cutesy purple font.

"What Should We Call You?"

A line blinked inside the blank space. It must want her to give herself a username.

Meg was temped to just type Meg but something in the back of her mind told her not to do that. Maybe whoever this NightDream person was isn't willing to be nice, or maybe they'd go running to the Entity and tell it that Meg was the one with it's lost phone. If this person even was in the same dimension as her?

Well NightDream, two can play at that game.

Meg tapped on the blank space and a keyboard popped up from the bottom, ready for her to type in her new identity. She'd have to make it a good one.

"HiddenWhisper"

Seemed elusive enough. It was kind of fitting too. A lost soul communicating with someone she shouldn't be. Nothing but a whisper in the wind…

"Connecting…"

A list popped up that had one contact on it. NightDream. Meg tapped on the name and a chat log appeared, and she could now read the two messages this anonymous person had sent earlier.

ND: Hello?  
ND: I have no idea if I'm doing this correctly, are these messages going through?

So this person had no idea how to use their phone as well. That was at least a little reassuring. Meg typed her response.

_HW: Hello. Who am I speaking with right now? How are you contacting me?_

ND: Oh, hello! I'd rather not say who I am, I don't really trust anyone, and I have no idea who you are.

This person was being cautious as well. Smart. At least Meg knew the person she was talking to was no fool, so she'd have to be careful with what she said. She didn't even notice the wind slowly returning and rustling the grass around her as she typed.

_HW: I don't blame you. Could you at least tell me where you are? Like, not exactly like the general… area?_

ND: I would if I could.

_HW: You're lost?_

ND: I guess you could say that.

_HW: What do you mean? You have to have at least SOME idea._

ND: Not even in the slightest.

Either this person ws genuinely lost, which Meg really doubted, or they were intentionally being very careful with how much information they gave out. Either way, Meg was going to take the careful route.

_HW: Funny, neither do I._

ND: Really? Not just saying that?

_HW: Are you?_

ND: That's fair.  
ND: So.  
ND: It's been a very long time since i've had a decent conversation. Not to be too forward, but would you be willing to talk for a bit?

They just wanted to chat? Now?

Meg looked up from the phone at where she was. The trials would start soon. She glanced back down at the phone in her hands. It had been a very long time since she had a really good conversation one on one with someone for her too, and she desperately craved the interaction. She got along with her fellow survivors most of the time, but it just wasn't the same. Those interactions lacked the intimacy of friendship. They were just convenient.

But the sad truth was that Meg simply just didn't have time. She'd be called to be slaughtered any minute now. She sighed and began typing again.

_HW: I can't talk right now._

It look a little bit longer than it should have to type out their message, but eventually they replied.

ND: Okay.

The red-head winced a little at their response. She hoped that she hadn't hurt their feelings or anything, and the simple "Okay" looked like it held some kind of hidden meaning to her, but maybe it was just all in her head.

She held onto the phone in her hand tight as she powered it off. She didn't want to just leave it here on the ground. What if someone else came by and found it? Or worse, the Entity took it back? She didn't want either outcome.

Meg shoved the phone into one of the pockets on her belt, clicking the top closed. It didn't look like there was anything in there. Just her normal empty pocket. She stood up and began walking back towards the campfire, giving the pocket a final small pat just to make sure that it was still there.

It was.

If you guys are interested in following the progress of this story feel free to follow me on Tumblr! I post DBD art and updates about this fic there! blog/daylightbydead


	2. Chapter 2

Meg walked back through the woods with a slight limp. She grunted as she took one small step at a time, making sure to keep as much weight off her right foot as she could. It had been a particularly rough day for trials. From The Trappers traps almost snapping her ankle in half to the blood that seeped down her back from The Huntress' hatchets, she had certainly seen better days.  
Luckily, every wound on her body would be gone when she woke up. One half decent night sleep and just like that it's like she never even stepped foot in a trial. It had to have something to do with The Entity she always assumed, some kind of regeneration process when the survivors slept, maybe. Trials are no fun if there's an unfair advantage in the chases. After all, it's not very entertaining to send a survivor crawling into a trial just to be ripped to shreds without a fight. Where's the fun in that? Make sure your survivors are fit and strong to give the killers a run for their money.

The Entity was one sick monster. Stupid spider. Stupid trials. Everything hurt.

Meg finally reached the pile of leaves along the path and plopped down against a tree a few feet away from it, her hands falling to the ground with a soft crunch as her body went limp. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the bark, taking a moment to catch her breath and enjoy the feeling of the breeze against her sweaty face. She wanted just a few minutes to rest before she drifted off to sleep just like always.

**Ding!**

Oh, right. This wasn't always.

She lazily fished the phone from her pocket and glared at the bright screen. She must have accidentally turned it on during a trial. Maybe when the hillbilly shredded her shoulder with a fucking chainsaw he accidentally kicked the power button or something. Who knows.

God she was in a really crappy mood. NightDream would just have to deal with her right now if they really wanted to talk that badly.

**"One new message from NightDream!"**

She tapped on the notification and their chat logs popped up.

**ND: Any chance you're free now?**

The message came through the moment she sat down, not even five minutes after the trails for the survivors ended. Interesting. She'd have to think about that one a little bit later when she felt like it. She moved her other hand to the phone and began to answer.

**HW: Are any of us really free? Aren't we all trapped some way? Be it a dead end job or in an endless hell-ish loop?**

**ND: That's pretty dramatic. Something happen?**

**HW: Nothing you need to know about.**

**ND: Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to overstep. Do you want to talk about it?**

God, this person and their talking. Talk, talk, talk, that's all they ever wanted to do.

**HW: Do I wanna TALK about it? Why do you care? You don't know me**.

**ND: I want to.**

**HW: Sure you do. I'm just some person over the phone. Once again, why do you CARE?**

**ND: Because I care about how you feel. I don't know you, but that can change. I don't like seeing anyone upset, I see enough of that at my job. Please, just give me a chance and talk to me about what is bothering you, okay?**

…huh. Meg started to feel a little bad about how she'd been talking to them. She knew she was being a bitch but being killed every single day for hours on end does that to a person, doesn't it? She let out a sigh.

**HW: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come off as an asshole, I'm just frustrated.**

**ND: About what?**

She'd have to make something up she realized as she twirled her thumbs over the keypad, wondering how to respond. She could create a persona. Someone she can hide behind while still being able to be vulnerable when she needed to be. She couldn't do that around the other survivors because she needed to be strong around them. This was an opportunity to be weak sometimes. Meg smiled a little at the though as she crafted a web of lies inside of her head. A web of lies that can tell her story through the eyes of someone else with the same mind. She began typing as a small wave of clarity came over her.

**HW: Just some people from my class. I'm going to college and I have to work on this group project with some people I don't know and the teacher is being a real pain about it. He keeps distracting us from what we're supposed to be doing. It's just frustrating is all. It's every day. It seems like this project is never going to be finished.**

**ND: Oh, it's just a school project? I'm sure you and your partners can come up with a solution to getting it done faster.**

God, if only they knew.

**HW: It's not that simple. We go to the library for some quiet and the teacher finds us there and starts bugging us, then we go to the cafeteria and the same thing happens. It seems like there's no escape from them.**

**ND: That teacher sounds like a creep.**

**HW: Tell me about it.**

**ND: It's kind of similar where I work. I don't talk to my coworkers much but when I'm heading home I bump into them sometimes and they try to make conversation. I'm not interested in being friends with the people I work with, but they always try and talk to me and they just wont get the message. There's this one guy named Randy who just wont stop bugging me. We even get in fights sometimes… so I guess I kind of get where you're coming from.**

**HW: Annoying people, am I right?**

**ND: Very.**

**HW: Where do you work?**

**ND: Office job. I make sure the company is spending the right amount of money every day.**

**HW: My god, an ACCOUNTANT? I'm so sorry to hear about that. You poor thing**.

**ND: Spare me. It's the same thing every single day. It was a blessing I got this phone, I've never had one before. I just wanted to mix things up a little, you know?**

**HW: I get that. How did you get this account anyway? Why did you message me?**

**ND: There was this program on my phone and your contact was the only one listed. I figured I might as well send you a message. It seemed easier to message a stranger than to go and talk to real people.**

**HW: PFFFF I feel that on a spiritual level. Real people suck.**

**ND: There's some good ones, but not many.**

**HW: Not many at all. One of the guys in my group, his name is Peter, he's so useless. All he ever does is sit there and tell everyone what to do and disappears when we actually need him for once. Such an ass.**

**ND: Sounds like one. I bet him and Randy would get along pretty well.**

**HW: Two assholes in one room together? That's a recipe for disaster. I don't know if you'd want to unleash that duo on the world.**

**ND: I can't argue with you there. I think the world could use a few less assholes, let alone them getting together and being an unstoppable force. What a combination.**

**HW: YES! God just image all the shit they would get into-**

This carried on for some period of time. Meg hadn't even slept yet but she had completely forgotten all about her pain. After who knows how long of talking to this person Meg slowly drifted off to sleep, her phone sliding down her lap and landing softly in the grass. The person she'd been speaking to however, stayed very awake.

**ND: Hello?  
ND: HiddenWhisper?  
ND: I'm guessing you fell asleep.  
ND: Thank you for messaging me for a while. It means a lot to me. I don't get to talk to people like this and it was really nice. Let's do it again some time.  
ND: Sweet dreams.**

Strangely that last message would be nowhere to be found the next time Meg checked her phone.


	3. Chapter 3

Today started out pretty weird.

When Meg woke up she reached for her pocket to make sure her phone was there.

It wasn't.

She had jumped to her feet so fast that she almost woke the other survivors up. Dwight stirred next to her, drool dripping out of his mouth as he curled up into himself and smiled in his sleep. She glanced at him to make sure he was asleep and got to her feet, looking all around for her phone. Meg couldn't find it anywhere. She was trying her best to have an internal panic attack so the others wouldn't get suspicious. Her hysteria left her in an extremely satisfying wave as she noticed it was just caught under her spare jacket.

God. That could have been bad.

Even weirder, after the trials for the day had finished, Meg had walked back to the tree as she had done for the past few weeks. She turned on her phone, and for the first time ever, her cell reception was now four bars instead of five. Strange. She wondered what could be causing this? She doubted there was cell service in the Entity's realm, so this had to mean something, didn't it?

Other than that, Meg had one last strange piece of things going for her today.

NightDream hadn't messaged her yet. They always messaged Meg first. For weeks without fail every single time when she sat down a new message came through and they had their normal conversations. She was so used to it. This was so WEIRD for her. She didn't really know how to react. Should she message them first?

**Ding!**

Finally, they decided to message her. She was starting to get worried.

**"One new message from CrystalFeather!"**

I'm sorry, who?

There were other people who had her contact? Who could this be?

She quickly tapped on their contact and opened their chat logs.

**CF: Hey there! NightDream gave me your contact!"**

NightDream was behind this? That explains the lack of a message.

**NW: Hey there, CrystalFeather. Why are you messaging me? What happened to NightDream?**

**CF: Oh, nothing is wrong with NightDream! They've just been talking my ear off with nothing but talking about you, and I was just curious what all the fuss is about! They're busy at the moment. They'll be on tomorrow though!**

NightDream had been talking about her? That was... interesting. An Interesting thought. Huh.

**HW: All good things I hope?**

**CF: GOOD THINGS YOU SAY! God, it's like you two are newly weds or something. They adore you.**

...adore...?

Meg couldn't hide her blush. Not that anyone was around to hide it for anyway. It was easy to forget she was talking to people not even in the same dimension. She exhaled deeply. Play it cool.

**HW: I'm not surprised. I'm pretty irresistible. Talk to me for an hour or two and I bet you'd be begging for my hand in marriage too.**

**CF: God, I hope. By the way, whats your gender? NightDream thinks you might be a girl but they're not sure.**

Should she tell CrystalFeather her gender? She felt like she didn't mind telling NightDream her gender, because after all they'd spend probably a total of thirty hours just talking to each other about pretty much anything. Meg knew a lot about the mystery person. Their fears, what makes them happy, what makes them laugh, but she didn't know the basics that you should know first when befriending a person. She didn't know their gender, or their name, or where they lived, or really anything about them besides anything that was personality based.

Meg always pictured them in her head as a guy, but she couldn't be sure. It seems NightDream pictured her as a girl, which she wasn't very surprised about. Meg wasn't extremely feminine, but she still had a few feminine traits to her personality. She supposed ranting to NightDream about how stupid wired bras are really didn't help hide her gender much, did it?

**CF: Hello?**

Oops, she got caught up in her own thoughts again.

**HW: Tell NightDream the next time you see them that if they want to know my gender they have to ask me themselves.**

**CF: Oh yeah, you're definitely a woman. I'll let them know as soon as they come online :)**

**HW: What is that supposed to mean!**

**CF: You're so bossy. Women are bossy. **

**HW: That's so sexist. You're sexist.**

**CF: I didn't say I didn't like it! Boss me around all day, mommy ;)**

**HW: You're so fucking weird.**

**CF: The best kind of person if you ask me.  
CF: So  
CF: Tell me a little about yourself! I wanna know who NightDream is crushin' on so I can annoy them about it :3**

**HW: They do not say they have a crush on me!**

**CF: They didn't have to! I could see it in the way they typed.**

**HW: The way they typed? You know words don't express emotions, right? You're staring at a screen.**

**CF: Oh trust me, words SCREAM emotions. You just have to be familiar enough with how a person types. I don't know you well enough yet, but give me some time and I'll be able to read your simple little "alright" like a paragraph of deep hearted confessions!**

**HW: You sure do come on strong.**

**CF: Oh, yeah? Does NightDream have some competition?~**

**HW: You wish.**

**CF: Oh... so no competition then? So you're sayingggg?**

**HW: I'm saying nothing! is this an interrogation or something? How do I know you're not NightDream on another account?**

**CF: This app only lets use have one account. You can't make another one. I never even downloaded this app or anything, it was just kind of here.**

**HW: What do you mean?**

**CF: I just found this phone lying around in the dirt. I have no idea how it's working right now.**

...what? Could that mean...

**HW: Where are you right now?**

**CF: There's no way I could explain it in a way you'd understand.**

**HW: Try me.  
**

**CF: Really, I don't even know how to begin. Spider gods. People trying to kill me all the time. Crazy world I live in.**

Oh my god.

CrystalFeather lives in the Entity's realm.

They're a survivor.

Holy shit!

HOLY SHIT!

Meg needed to process this. She didn't even know how to react.

**HW: I have to go.**

**CF: So soon? I didn't scare you off did I? Would it help if I said I was joking?**

**HW: Goodbye.**

Meg turned the phone off and shoved it into her pocket, leaning back against the tree and staring at the sky. Someone else in the Nightmare had a phone. A survivor. Did all the survivors have phones? Was NightDream a survivor too? Who could they both be?

Who was Meg slowly developing feelings for?

God, what a weird day.


	4. Chapter 4

**ND: Sorry about disappearing yesterday, had to work overtime for a while.**

**HW: Don't worry about it, I got to have a little chat with your pal CrystalFeather.**

**ND: CrystalFeather? I knew I should have never given them your contact, but I sent it in case of emergencies.**

**HW: Can I ask you something?**

**ND: Of course. You can ask me anything.**

**HW: What gender are you? Whats your name?**

**ND: You want to know all that about me? Why? Does it matter?**

**HW: Of course not, I just… feel like we know each other enough that we can tell each other those things, don't you think?**

**ND: Yeah, I do. I don't know if I can tell you my name, I think i'd like to keep that private.**

**HW: That's understandable. What about your gender?**

**ND: I'm a male.**

**HW: Will you tell me how old you are?**

**ND: No, but I will tell you that I'm under 30 years old.**

Meg had been messaging NightDream again for a little while, for some reason feeling almost burdened by the knowledge that not only was CrystalFeather a survivor, but NightDream might be one too. It seemed like a great thing. Wow! Someone that Meg has a crush on is a five minute walk out of the woods!

But it wasn't that simple. If everyone that Meg was talking to was in the Entity's realm, that meant that the Entity was cooking up some kind of plan. Maybe emotional manipulation. Maybe the Entity wanted to break Meg's heart. Maybe it wanted to give her hope that she might he happy in this nightmare. Maybe it just liked watching her squirm. She had no idea. The Entity had planted these phones around for some reason, but what could that reason be? There had to be some kind of explanation to all this. Why give all the survivors phones? That made no sense.

**ND: Does this change things? Are you really young or something?**

Meg found herself getting lost in her thoughts a lot more recently. She had a lot on her mind, and she just hadn't properly processed it all yet, or even began to understand what it all might mean.

**HW: No. No it doesn't. I guess it's only fair I answer the same questions, huh?**

**ND: You don't have to.**

**HW: I want to.  
HW: I am a female, and I'm 25 years old. **(at least she figured she was now)

**ND: Oh.  
ND: That's a relief. I was silently worrying that I was talking to a 15 year old this whole time. That would have been extremely weird.**

**HW: Yeah, good thing, huh? Any chance you might disclose… at least what country you live in?**

**ND: …I don't know.**

**HW: Sorry, I didn't mean to push my boundaries.**

**ND: It's okay, really. I enjoy talking to you so much, and I consider you the best friend that i've ever had. It's just… complicated. You understand don't you?**

Oh god. NightDream is a survivor. They're a survivor! They're being so cryptic! What does this mean?

**HW: Sorry, my head is a little all over the place lately. CrystalFeather told me some stuff that I'm processing.**

NightDream didn't respond for several minutes.

**ND: What did they tell you?**

**HW: They said that you… adore me.**

Another several minutes.

**HW: Are you there? Did I say something wrong?**

**ND: Sorry, I was just getting onto CrystalFeather for their inability to keep their mouth shut. They didn't tell you about the God Spider did they?**

**HW: Yeah they did! That was freaking me out a lot too!**

**ND: Just ignore her. I think she has a lot of issues that she needs to work out, she doesn't know what she's saying.**

Wait… NightDream doesn't believe CrystalFeather? Does that mean…

NightDream isn't a survivor.

In fact they're not even in the same dimension.

Meg would be lying if she said she didn't feel a little crushed at this revelation. Some dark scheme or not, she was looking forward to meeting NightDream. She had come to the conclusion that she couldn't deny anymore. She had feelings for NightDream, and learning that they were similar in age and matched the image Meg had in her head for them didn't help stop those feelings. It just made them stronger.

And she would never meet them. She felt sick.

**HW: Ah, so they're a SHE huh?**

**ND: Yes! They are! And they have no idea how to KEEP THEIR MOUTH SHUT!**

**HW: So… You adore me huh?**

Meg didn't know why she was egging this on. It would never happen.

**ND: Tell me what she said!**

**HW: She said that you talk about me all the time, that its all you talk about!**

She was just going to get herself hurt.

**ND: Well… She didn't lie.**

She never knew pain could be so sweet.


	5. Chapter 5

Meg glared at the blood dripping down her leg. Fuck The Hillbilly straight to hell. She tried to swipe the blood off of her leg but just ended up smearing it all over herself. She groaned in annoyance and glared at her phone, a notification sitting on the home screen.

**"One new message from CrystalFeather!"**

Meg felt her head pounding. She had been extremely distracted in the trials today thanks to the conversation she'd had with NightDream yesterday, and she was having bad anxiety over it. What the hell do you even say to someone after mutually agreeing that you have feelings for each other? How do you continue knowing that it can never happen?

She opened the stupid message program anyway. She tapped on CrystalFeather because she wanted to put off facing NightDream for as long as possible.

**CF: Hello.**

**HW: Uh…hi?**

**CF: Where are you?**

Okay… Meg didn't really know how to react to these messages. Did she do something wrong? Did CrystalFeather know about the conversation she'd had with NightDream? They had to. They were friends with him. They were being this way for a reason.

**HW: Excuse me?**

**CF: I will repeat myself. Where are you?**

**HW: Why do you want to know?**

**CF: It is not your concern.**

**HW: I think my own location is my concern.**

**CF: No, it is not. Tell me now or face the consequences.**

**HW: The consequences? What the hell are you talking about?**

**CF: I will bring you suffering that you have never known but will soon become very familiar with.**

**HW: You're being a jerk right now, CrystalFeather.**

**CF: I am not CrystalFeather.**

…what? Oh god… could it be?

**CF: Haha! I'm kidding! hey gurl!**

Meg felt like she'd been drop kicked.

**HW: That is not funny! You scared the shit out of me!**

**CF: I got you good lmao.**

**HW: Don't talk to me, creep.**

Meg closed her contact, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, tossing her phone to the ground next to herself. What the hell was CrystalFeather thinking? They were being irrational. What an asshole! They knew about The Entity! They made me think The Entity had found me! Of course… they had no idea I was a survivor… but still! What an ass.

"Meg? Is that you?"

Meg jumped in surprise, looking up from her seat against the tree to see Claudette standing there, her hands in her pockets. Meg's heart was racing.

"O-oh! Hey Claudette! What are you doing all the way out here?" Meg managed to spit out, sweat pooling on her forehead.

Claudette made a weird face, scrunching her lip up in confusion, "I could ask you the same thing. We've been missing you at the campfire. Dwight has been going on and on with nobody to tell him to shut up for weeks. What have you been doing out here?"

Meg placed her hands on the ground, trying to slide her phone under he leg without being noticed, "Oh, you know! Just… getting away from it all for a bit! You know how it is, heh heh."

Claudette took a few steps towards her, "Do you sleep out here?"

She looked away, keeping her mouth closed as her eyes trailed the ground next to her.

Claudette sighed and walked over to Meg and sat down next to her. She leaned back against the tree and looked around the forest, the breeze flowing the stray strands of hair into her face. She ignored them.

"It's nice out here."

"Yep."

Claudette turned her head and looked at Meg who was sitting pretty close to her, "We've known each other for a while Meg, haven't we?"

Meg turned to took at her at that, "We sure have. A few years I think now, huh?"

Claudette chuckled, "Yeah! It's been quite the ride hasn't it? Everything we've been through together?"

Where was she going with this?

"One hell of a ride. You've saved my ass more times than I can count."

"I was happy to."

"You spoil me."

"Anyway," Claudette continued, "I just want to say… you know… you can talk to me whenever you need to."

Meg blinked at her, giving her a confused look.

"I know you come out here to be alone, but I'm scared that it's not healthy for you." Claudette said quietly, a frown on her face, "You don't have to be alone. We all want you around. It's more than just about being stuck here together."

Meg stared at her, completely lost for words. Claudette was too kind for this world. Meg felt her heart swell with how much she appreciated having her as a friend. She had no idea what she would do without her.

But Claudette was not done. Not yet.

Claudette gazed into Meg's eyes, her brown eyes glistening with the moonlight that broke through the thick overhead of leaves above them. Meg found herself getting lost in them. They were so kind. Meg could look into them all day long without a care in the world.

Claudette smiled at her, "We all care about you." She gulped and looked like she was having difficulty speaking. When she regained her thoughs, she looked back up at Meg with her eyes glistening with tears, "I care about you." She looked so scared.

Before Meg could even respond, Claudette raised her hand and brushed the stray strands of red hair behind Meg's ear, sliding her hand down to gently cup her cheek as she leaned forward and pressed her lips against Meg's.

Meg's eyes shot wide in surprise but found herself melting into it, kissing back softly and placing a hand against Claudette's, gently tracing her fingers against her own as they kissed. Meg felt her heart swell again in a different way this time, her cheeks turning a bright red as the wind grew a little stronger and wipped their hair around, completely ruffling up Claudette's handy work. But Meg didn't care. Meg didn't have a care in the world.

Except one.

Guilt immediately filled Meg entirely and she pulled away suddenly, Claudette's eyes opening in alarm.

"I'm sorry- I-" Meg choked out, fumbling over herself completely.

"No! No it's okay, it's my fault! I didn't- I didn't mean to-" Claudette was stuttering and looked just as surprised as Meg, "I… I'm gonna go…" She stood to her feet and quickly retreated back where she came from, hugging herself as the wind was strong now, whipping her hair wildly into her face as she walked.

"Claudette! Wait!" Meg called after her, jumping to her feet and reaching after her.

Claudette didn't look stop or look back. She disappeared behind the tree line.

Meg's breathing picked up, tears swelling up in her eyes and lump forming in her throat. She kicked the grass and stomped over to the tree. She glared at it with swollen eyes and raised a shaky fist, slamming it against the tree with every ounce of her strength. There was a loud pop and Meg gasped in pain, retracting her hand. Blood dripped down her busted knuckles, sliding down her arm and falling to the ground in thin streams. Meg dropped to her knees and put her face in her hands, letting her confused emotions completely overtake her. Her body shook from her sobs. She gasped as she cried for god knows how long. She didn't even notice that her phone had gone off in her emotional state.

"One new message from NightDream!"

ND: Hey HiddenWhisper! You miss me? :)


	6. Chapter 6

Meg decided that she didn't want to be alone today. She sat on one of the logs around the campfire and kicked the dirt with her shoes as Nea was reciting another one of her crazy stories from when she was in the real world. She had a pretty thick accent so it was a little hard to understand her sometimes, but was she a damn good storyteller. Meg even found herself chuckling when she heard that Nea had sprayed her spray paint in the cops eyes and booked it down an alley when he caught her tagging the side of a building at night.

Meg felt eyes burning into the top of her head, but she didn't look up. She knew Claudette had to be staring at her. She knew deep down that Claudette was desperate to talk about what had happened, but Meg, stubborn and irresponsible as she is, was putting it off as long as possible. She had no interest at all in tackling those feelings right now. The kiss had happened three days ago and it had stewed in Meg's head the entire time. She hadn't even checked her phone the entire time. It was on silent in her pocket where it always was. She sometimes felt it vibrate and knew that NightDream and CrystalFeather had been messaging her. She just didn't feel like talking to anyone. Which was weird, because she was surrounding herself with the other survivors to keep from talking. It might not make sense, and it might not be fair, but she just really didn't want to deal with all of that right now. Besides, the trials would be starting any second now. There was no time anyway.

"You did not!"

"I did! It was nuts! He didn't even see it coming!"

The howling of laughter mad Meg jump a little. She looked up to see Nea, Feng, David, Dwight, Jake, and Ace all laughing hysterically to whatever joke Nea had just made that Meg didn't hear. She made the mistake of glancing at Claudette who was sitting there across from Meg, hugging herself with her knees to her chest. Her eyes were glazed over almost but they were definitely on Meg. They made brief eye contact. Meg turned away quickly, feeling her heart skip a beat in guilt.

Claudette didn't deserve the silent treatment. Before Meg ever found that stupid phone, she had always had a huge crush on Claudette. She would often catch Claudette giving her flirty looks in trials and she would always sit next to her at the campfire. Meg would be lying if she said that she didn't flirt with her back. She had laid by herself at night and imagined kissing the dark haired girl for what seemed like years now. Imagined what it would be like to be in her arms. Claudette as it turned out, had been doing the very same. Yet... neither had made a move. It had become some kind of game between them.

Then Meg took a walk in the woods and found a stupid phone and developed stupid feelings for someone who wouldn't even tell her their stupid name. Claudette deserved her attention more than NightDream. Meg should get up right now and sweep the smaller girl into her arms and kiss her hard in front of everyone. She should look into her eyes and tell Claudette that she loved her, and they could start a relationship. They'd hold hands at the campfire and sneak off into the woods when nobody was looking. That is what Meg should do right now.

But there she sat.

With Claudette in her head, and NightDream in her heart.

Meg clenched her teeth together and closed her eyes. Everything was so complicated now. Meg felt so strongly for NightDream and she'd never have him. He was unreachable. She'd never know what it was like to kiss him. She'd never know what it was like to be in his arms. She'd never even meet him. But god... did she love him.

Wait... Love?

...Yes.

Meg was in love with NightDream. This was nothing like any of the crushes that Meg had had before. Her past girlfriends and boyfriends who she'd at one point said she loved all felt meaningless. They were child's play. In comparison, Meg might as well have been dating strangers.

Meg cared for Claudette. She really did, but Meg couldn't be with Claudette simply because she was convenient. That wouldn't be fair. She can't kiss her while she was in love with someone else. That would be cruel. She'd never do that to someone who had always shown her unimaginable kindness. Someone who had literally saved her life countless times.

Speaking of saving lives... It was time to lose them.

The dark mist filtered into the clearing and surrounded the survivors. It was time for a trial. It was time to die.

Her vision blurred and faded to black. She felt weightlessness and then suddenly she was falling.

She landed hard into the tall grass sheltered under unnatural darkness at the Macmillan Estate. A thud next to her and a short grunt told her that David had landed nearby. Two other survivors were in this trial too, but time would tell who they are. She and David exchanged a brief glance and a nod as they trekked together through the grass and wove their way around the tall trees. A generator revealed itself to the pair soon enough, and they got to work on it immediately, reconnecting and rewiring wires and jamming cogs back into place. She had no idea how she knew what to do to this day, but her hands seemed to have a mind of their own as they worked with the skill of the most experienced engineer. No doubt the Entity's doing, since she'd never touched a generator in her life in the real world.

Eventually the generator sputtered and shook as it sprang to life, the lights above it flashing on suddenly and announced like a neon sign where they were. They jumped into action quickly, running off and finding cover before the killer, whoever they were, made their way over to scout the area. While she ran towards a smaller building she noticed two other lights light up in the distance. Great, so they had at least three generators done. Two more and they could open the exit gates and escape this hell hole.

Meg ducked through the doorway and found railroad tracks at her feet. Her eyes followed them until they sloped down into what could only been the entrance to a mine. The ground was uneven and the building was broken in places. There must have been some kind of cave in when this building was at the real Macmillan Estate. She wondered what had caused that to happen.

Suddenly her heart began to pound in her chest. She felt anxiety and fear fill her and instantly knew that the killer was close. She ran forward and climbed up onto a platform above the mouth of the cave, opening a locker that sat there as quietly as she could and slipping inside, closing it shut and holding her breath. She peeked through one of the slots on the door and kept a look out for the killer.

David sprinted through the entrance to the building, blood dripping from a wound in his side. He clutched it and kept his feet moving despite the pain. Meg hadn't even heard him scream. David was one tough guy, but nobody is tougher than a weapon.

He was running as fast as he could towards Meg because there was a window next to the locker she was in. She felt her heart skip a beat as a hulking shadow sprang from behind him and slashed it's weapon across his back. David screamed then, falling to the ground hard. He hissed and turned over as the form of the Trapper came into view. He held a hand up in a feeble attempt to protect himself but it was no use. The Trapper slashed his weapon down onto David, and he fell silent. David was either dead or unconscious from the pain, but either didn't matter. He would go on a hook now dead or alive. Meg waited silently for the Trapper to pick David up and carry him off.

But the Trapper didn't do that right away. He looked down at the possibly lifeless form of David king and stood there for a second. His head was down and his arms were limp at his side. He looked... almost sad? That... that couldn't be right. Meg must be imagining that.

With a resigned sigh, the Trapper leaned down and scooped David up and hefted him up onto his shoulder and without a word like always, carried him quietly away towards the nearest hook. Meg watched him go, confusion filling her mind. Though she shook it off after a few moments. Just like how Meg and the other survivors didn't want to be here, she doubted that some of the killers wanted to be here too. Who would want to kill people for all of eternity? Who wanted to be killed for all of eternity? She guessed not many people. She recalled the Wraith showing the same kind of behavior once in a trial. She had completely disregarded it at the time, but it was obvious to her now. She felt almost sad for the killers.

Then she remembered the sharp sting of the countless amount of traps that had snapped onto her ankle and the endless wounds inflicted by the weapon made of bone, and felt a little less sad about their situation.

Meg had luckily escaped the trial with no wounds, but wasn't so lucky for the rest of the trials for the day. Regardless, she mindlessly made her trek back out into the woods towards her familiar spot. She plopped down against her tree and rested her head against the bark. She felt so tired.

"Meg."

Meg's eyes snapped open to see Claudette walking towards her with something in her hands. Shit. Meg completely forgot she'd been avoiding Claudette in her fatigue.

"Oh... Hey Claudette... Uh... listen I-"

"I know that it's you."

Meg blinked at her, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion, "What? You know I'm who?"

Claudette looked away when she spoke, a nervous look on her face, "I know that you have a phone. I know that you're HiddenWhisper."

Meg may have been scared in the trials, but she felt true terror overtake her at Claudette's words.

"Wh- What... How... How do you know?" Meg managed to spit out, fumbling completely over her words. She stared at Claudette in complete shock. What did this all mean? Did the Entity know? Was she going to tell the others?

Claudette opened her hands in front of Meg, revealing the exact same make and model of the phone that was sitting in Meg's pocket right now. Did that mean...

The dark haired girl looked into her eyes and gave her a sad smile, "I know who you are, because I'm CrystalFeather."


	7. Chapter 7

"What- How... I don't... How did you know it was me?" Meg asked quietly, staring up at Claudette with wide eyes while she was frozen to the spot.

Claudette just smiled a little and sat down next to her, fiddling with her fingers, "The other day, when I followed you back. You know... when we..."

Meg nodded and listened.

"Well, I didn't just... run into the clearing. I was snooping. I know it's an invasion of privacy, but i wanted to know what you were doing out here by yourself. When I saw that phone, I know that it was you." Caludette put her hand against her forhead and leaned her head back, a nervous smile on her face, "You even type how you speak. I couldn't believe I hadn't put it together before."

The red-head looked at her with a confused expression, "But Claudette, if you knew I was HiddenWhisper, then you knew how I feel about NightDream. Why did you kiss me?"

Claudette looked at her then, her eyes shining a little from the beginnings of tears, "Because i've always wanted to."

Meg felt her heart twinge in her chest. She felt so guilty for how she was making Claudette feel, but there was nothing she could do about it. She loved NightDream. Indulging in the smaller girls feelings would only get her more hurt.

Claudette wasn't finished, "I wasn't thinking. I sent you a few texts to see if you would get them. I had no make the messages serious so you couldn't ignore them. Because I just wanted answers. Because if you really were HiddenWhisper, it meant that you had feelings for... him... and I thought... I thought that if I could just suck it up and finally kiss you that maybe I could have you before he could." Tears started streaming down her face, and she started breathing heavily, "That was so wrong of me Meg, I'm so sorry!"

Claudette all but fell into Meg's lap, wrapping her arms around her and sobbing hard into her shirt. Meg stared down at her with wide eyes. She started tearing up too but held it together by a thread. She wanted to be strong for her. Claudette deserved this.

They sat there for a while. Meg didn't really know how long it was, but eventually Meg's phone went off. The notification drew Claudette from her emotional state. She leaned up and wiped her eyes, avoiding eye contact with Meg while doing do. Meg ignored the message and reached out, pulling Claudette into a hug, holding on tightly. Claudette slowly but surely returned the hug, burying her face in Meg's neck.

Meg started slowly, because the best friend she's ever had deserved to know the truth, "Claudette, I want to be honest with you, okay? Just... listen without jumping to any conclusions until i'm done, okay?" Claudette nodded solemnly.

"Okay," Meg began, "It's not like I never felt that way about you, too. But, when I started talking to NightDream, it changed everything. I care about you, Claudette. I really do. But..." Meg looked away, fiddling with her shoelaces, "I'm in love with NightDream."

Claudette chuckled nervously, "I know you are. That's why I'm so sorry for doing what I did. I really messed things up, didn't I?"

Meg shook her head, smiling at her, "Never."

They both exchanged another hug and Meg gave Claudette a small kiss on the cheek, and the two girls laid down next to each other. Claudette drifted off to sleep quietly, but Meg fished her phone out of her pocket and finally checked the messages that NightDream had left her.

**ND: Hey HW! What's going on?**

**ND: Are you there?**

**ND: Did I do something wrong?**

**ND: What happened? Are you okay?**

**ND: Please talk to me.  
ND: HiddenWhisper. Please.**

These messages spanned over several days. Meg felt really bad for leaving him hanging like this with no explanation. She typed a quick message in response.

**HW: Hey, NightDream... I'm sorry for disappearing like that. Things came up, and I needed some time to be alone. I'm sorry for ditching you like that. I'll be here tomorrow and we can talk about it. Goodnight.**

The top of the screen caught Meg's eye. The signal that the phone was receiving was now only three bars. That couldn't be good. Would the reception just slowly fade away all together? If so, Meg didn't want to waste any more time. They'd talk about everything tomorrow.

She turned her phone off and put it back into her pocket, drifting off to sleep as well by Claudette's side. A small smile creep onto her face as the world faded. They were finally at peace with how they felt, and they were now on the road to recovering their friendship and turning it into something truly beautiful.


	8. Chapter 8

**HW: Hey NightDream. I'm here. Let's talk.**

**ND: Now you want to talk? Are you sure? If you don't want to talk to me it's fine, I understand...**

Meg sat in her familiar spot, her knees pulled to her chest as she typed. It was time to get this over with. They had to finally just get down to business. Be honest, Meg!

**HW: NightDream, please don't blame yourself. Shit just really went down. I met CrystalFeather.**

Claudette had given her permission to tell NightDream who she was before the trials had started today. Everything was about to come clean.

**ND: You... met CrystalFeather? How? I thought we all didn't live near each other at all.**

It was time.

**HW: NightDream... who are you? Where are you right now?**

**ND: I don't want to tell you that.**

**HW: Why? You said you worked in an office. You said you had a house. Where is that? Was any of that even true?**

**ND: ...**

**HW: Please, tell me.**

**ND: No. None of that was true. I don't work in an office. I don't have a house.**

**HW: Who are you?**

**ND: I am the person you've been talking to. I haven't faked who I am. This is real. I just don't want you to know me.**

**HW: Why?**

**ND: You'd be disappointed.**

**HW: I'd never be disappointed.**

Here it was.

**HW: NightDream... I want to know more about the person I love.**

There was radio silence for at least ten full minutes. Meg was getting extremely nervous.

**ND: You love me?**

**HW: I do. Do you... feel the same?**

No hesitation this time.

**ND: Of course I do.**

Meg's heart was racing.

**HW: Don't you think the person you love deserves to know all of this?**

**ND: I don't want to tell you my name. I don't want to tell you where I live. Respect my wishes.**

Meg was completely taken aback by his words. He was being extremely rude right now. Meg felt anger start to boil inside of her. He tells her that he loves her and then starts getting snappy with her for just wanted to know basics things she should already know? Without thinking her fingers began typing away on the keyboard furiously.

**HW: What is your problem? These are all things I should already know! You can't just drop shit like this on me and not tell me who you are? How do I know you're not just lying about everything? Are you just leading me on to fuck me over?**

**ND: What are you talking about? No! I just don't want to tell you my name! It's not a big deal!**

**HW: It is a big deal! This is a huge deal! I don't even know who you are! What do you think is going to happen next?**

**ND: We can just keep talking like normal.**

**HW: But it's not normal anymore, ND! We love each other, and knowing that, how do we move forward here?**

**ND: We don't.**

Meg stopped breathing. She felt a knot forming in her stomach and a lump forming in he throat. NightDream didn't want to have a relationship? It could be long distance. Well... really long distance... but it could work! It would be hard but god damn it they'd have each other and that's all that mattered!

**HW: What do you mean? You don't want to get into a relationship?**

**ND: You have to know that this can't work. I love you, but I don't know anything about you either. We don't even live near each other.**

Was that it? He didn't know anything about her? Was that the only problem?

**HW: You want to know more about me? My name is Meg Thomas. I'm twenty five years old. I've played sports my whole life. My father left when I was young. My mother raised me the rest of my life, teaching me how to protect myself and how to be strong until one day I went for a run in the woods.**

**ND: I'm sorry, Meg. But it just can't work. Please understand and don't make this harder than it needs to be.**

Meg's eyes started watering and nausea overtook her as she got desperate.

**HW: Please, NightDream! We can make this work! We can have a long distance relationship. It can work!**

**ND: Please... You deserve better than me. There has to be someone in your life that you can be with that will make you happy. I can't be there with you. **

So... that was it? He was insecure? He thinks that he doesn't deserve her?

**HW: I don't want anyone else. We've known each other for a few months but these months have been the happiest ive had in god knows how long. My life is hell every single day, and you make the little bit of hell every day worth it. Just so I can talk to you. Please. Tell me your name.**

**ND: My name is NightDream.**

**HW: You know what I mean.**

**ND: Maybe this was a mistake. I should have never told you this. I've ruined everything.**

**HW: What? What was a mistake?**

**ND: Telling you that I loved you. I should have just shrugged it off. I should have just continued being your friend. Now to protect you, I have to do something I didn't want to do.**

The reception on the cell phone dropped to two bars.

**HW: Protect me? What are you talking about? What are you going to do?**

**ND: I have to block you. I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore.**

**HW: WHAT? No! Please don't! We don't have to be in a relationship, you don't have to tell me your name or anything! Tell me about Randy! Tell me how you guys get in fights all the time! Tell me about your day! Tell me how your grandmother used to cook for you and would bring you treats when your dad was at work all day and night! Just please, don't block me...**

**ND: Goodbye.**

One bar.

**HW: Please! I need you!  
**HW: I can't do this without you.  
HW: I can't survive every day if I have nothing to survive for. I can get killed a thousand times if it means I come back every day to you. I'm begging you. Don't go.

**ND: Goodbye.**

**HW: Please!**

**"ERROR! Send Message Failed. You Can No Longer Send Messages To This Contact."**

Meg tightened the grip on her phone as her hands started shaking. She clenched her teeth and climbed to her feet. She growled and threw her phone as hard as she could against the tree. It shattered into several large pieces, landing on the pile of leaves that had been there since the beginning with soft thuds.

Meg didn't even know how to describe how she felt in that moment. She felt heart broken. She was angry. She felt betrayed. How could he tell her that he loved her just to leave? Just to leave like every one else?

It wasn't long until she could no longer bottle the emotions up anymore. Meg screamed, pulling on her hair and ripping it out of the braids. It stuck up everywhere wildly but she didn't care. She took a step and almost stumbled to the ground. She grabbed onto the tree to stop herself from falling, but her hand scraped against the bark and she lost her grip. She collapsed to the ground, blood now seeping out from the fresh scratches on her hand. She didn't even feel the pain. Tears started flowing from her eyes and she picked herself up off the ground before tripping and falling a second time. She coulnd't even hold herself up. She gave in and curled into a ball on the ground, leaves getting entangled in her messy hair and dirt clinging to her clothes.

Meg Thomas was heartbroken. She cried for hours. She cried until tears would no longer come and when they stopped she started hitting things. She punched the tree until her knuckles were bloody and when they were all but an open would she kicked it until she had blisters. She might have even broken one of her fingers. She didn't care. She didn't care about anything.

With her head pounding, she stared out into the forest, completely unfeeling. What would she do now? She had nobody. She wasn't worth fighting for. Nobody would miss her if she disappeared. Not NightDream. Not Claudette, or anyone else at the campfire. She was alone.

The wind picked up and whipped her hair around as she abandoned the clearing and trekked off into the woods, her hands clenched into fists at her side and her face blank, completely devoid of any feelings she'd just spent all that time crying away. She was done being played by people. Now, it would be her time. She would do what she wanted. The Entity could try to stop her. She dared it to.

So she walked.

In the empty clearing where a red-head used to visit often to escape from the world, there was a broken cell phone that sat with no user. The phone, frankly, could care less that it as broken. It wasn't a normal phone. This was a cell phone crafted by the hands of a god. It would take more than an angry survivor to break it, that's for sure.

The screen, uncaring that it had nothing to power it, lit up with a new message that had taken hours to go through with one bar. But it was a resilient little message that had bounced back and forth from both recipients for quite some time before finally finding a crack in the signal to slip through. It was too bad there was no user to read it.

**"One New Message From NightDream!"**

**ND: Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I completely over reacted. Please respond. We can talk about this.**

Though the message was resilient, the being responsible for creating the signal was not. It spited it's failed experiment. It craved the false hope of it's victims, but from Meg Thomas there was none. There was no hope. He had nothing to feed on from her anymore. Perhaps the god would give her a chance to prove herself again. Perhaps Meg Thomas and the other holders of cell phones could still be fed from. They were the least hopeful of all the others, after all. If this god was anything, it was creative. It may not understand human speech very well, but it had learned much from watching these creatures interact with each other. Bonding with one another. It had felt true hope from the three, and the being had gorged itself on it. Maybe there was hope after all. It could try something different this time. Perhaps a more direct approach would suffice.

The god did not need the cellular phones anymore, so it stopped providing reception. It's other pets would be confused and distraught by the sudden stop, but they would have to deal with it. They were in it's realm. They operated by it's rules.

Oh, did the old being love playing with it's pets! The trials brought it great joy, but this was something different! A new flavor! Unmarked territory!

The Entity was very excited to get started.

The single bar that had stayed strong at the top of the screen slowly but surely lost it's will, and it faded away until nothing but two small words sat in their new home where the reception had once been. They would always and forever reside here, and nothing else would ever hold that spot again for as long as this world still stood. Alone in the clearing, leaves flying gently around it as the wind picked them up and carried them around in the breeze, the screen of the phone crafted by a god read:

No Service.


	9. Chapter 9

It had been days. It had been days since NightDream's phone refused to send messages and showed the words "No Service" at the top of the screen. He sat there staring at it for hours upon hours day after day, waiting for some kind of response. But there was nothing. He knew in the back of his mind that he wouldn't get a response, if his phone wasn't working that meant that CrystalFeather and HiddenWhisper's phones weren't working either.

...oops. Meg. He meant Meg. That was her name after all, wasn't it?

Though, after what he'd just done, he doubted that it mattered what he called her. He'd never see her again. They were over. He'd lost a friend. He'd lost a lover. He lost everything.

So there he sat, scrolling down the old chat logs with Meg and CrystalFeather, re-reading their old conversations and living in the past just a little bit longer.

**ND: You are not going to believe what Randy just fucking did!**

**HW: What! What did he do?**

**ND: He randomly just attacked me! He jumped on me as soon as I was walking home from work!**

**HW: Oh shit! What happened? Are you okay?**

**ND: Yeah, I'm okay! You should be asking Randy that, I kicked his ass!**

Just then "Randy" walked by NightDream. The large man glared at him before sneering and waddling off, his oversized belly juggling with every step. What a pig. A horrible person to have to see at all even if it is only occasionally. NightDream didn't know why he came here. His other "coworkers" had to pass by to get to work, which meant he would have to be around them. Most of them paid him no mind, but he certainly had no friends here.

He guessed he just didn't want to be alone anymore. Even if it meant he was surrounded by people he hated.

**HW: Holy crap! Nice! That's what my mom always told me! You don't stop beating the shit out of them until someone drags you off of them!**

**ND: Well! Well! HiddenWhisper I think you might secretly be a bad ass!**

**HW: Secret? Do you KNOW me? I'm 100% bad ass!**

NightDream hadn't been to work the entire week. His boss was surely furious at him, but he'd said nothing. It was very suspicious, especially from a boss who was so talkative and verbally critical of his performance at work. He had no doubt in his mind that his boss would come to him eventually and give him shit about it.

It was just a matter of time.

**CF: NightDream! You have to tell her how you feel! You can't let her go when you have a chance to be with her.**

**ND: You don't understand, CF. It's not up to me. I've been getting threatening messages from someone. They're telling me that if I don't stop talking to her that she'll be in danger.**

**CF: Who is sending you these messages? What's their contact?**

**ND: Their contact is Explore. That's all I know.**

**CF: I can't find them? Who do you think they are? Do you think they might be a good guy?**

**ND: I've no idea.**

He continued swiping, all of the messages from this "Explore" contact nowhere to be found. It was frustrating. There was no way to reassure himself that they were real. That he did this for a reason. That it was for Meg's safety. He had to do this.

There was no going back.

But then his phone went off.

**Ding!**

**"One New Message From ?"**

Huh? Who the hell was this? Another person? This was getting a little ridicul-

**?: Hello, NightDream.**

He checked the reception on his phone. It still said No Service. He tried to click off of this person's contact to send Meg a message but the screen refused to budge. It refused to move away from this contacts chat log. NightDream sighed and responded.

**ND: What do you want?**

**?: You couldn't possibly even begin to understand what I WANT, NightDream. But, I know exactly what you want.**

**ND: Yeah? And what's that?**

**?: Meg Thomas. **

He felt his heart skip a beat. Who was this? How the hell did they know about Meg? Were they responsible for her disappearing? If they laid a finger on her-

**?: You haven't been going to work, have you NightDream? Do you think you deserve to be rewarded for sitting there for 153 hours doing absolutely nothing?**

**ND: Who are you?**

**?: Answer me.**

**ND: I don't care about rewards. If you hurt Meg I swear I will kill you.**

**?: KILL ME? You think that you are capable of killing the likes of me? Please. You can't even kill survivors.**

NightDream frowned, rubbing his eyes with his hands. Normally he might have been wary of messages like these, hell, he might have even been scared. But now? There was no point. He knew exactly who this was. He wasn't afraid anymore.

**ND: If you're going to kill me, just get it over with.**

**?: That's no way to treat your boss. You should have more faith in me, NightDream. You should have hope.**

**ND: Why? What good does hope do?**

**?: Hope is a powerful thing. Hope is what makes you see your Meg Thomas. Would you like to meet her, in fact?**

He had NightDream's full attention now. He even felt a tiny flutter of hope in his heart.

**ND: You can do that?**

**?: Of course. I can do anything that I want. I can give you anything your heart desires as long as you behave.**

NightDream wanted to see Meg more than anything. His heart ached to finally hold her and say that he was sorry for the awful things he's said and done. He wanted it so bad. He'd die just to see her once.

But...

That would mean that The Entity would pull her into his world. He'd also rather die than drag some poor woman from the real world into this hell.

**ND: I won't let you trap another soul here. Keep your offer, I want her to live her life in the real world and have a chance at real happiness.**

**?: Oh! You poor fool! She is so much closer than you think!**

**ND: Did you already take her from you real world? I swear if you did!**

**?: I don't suppose that HiddenWhisper ever filled you in on who your friend CrystalFeather was, did she? You were too busy blocking her contact. I had to revoke your phone privileges for that little mishap!**

Who CrystalFeather was? Some person from the real world? Did it matter?

**ND: What does it matter who CrystalFeather is?**

**?: Oh! Why it's because she is a survivor! You've killed her hundreds of times!**

...what?

**?: The little dark one! Exceptionally good with medical kits! A Healer!**

She was CrystalFeather?! Oh no...

He stared at his phone in shock. Even more guilt filled him at what the Entity had just told him. CrystalFeather had been very good to him. A true friend. And now he has to live with the fact that he's killed her.

But wait. Doesn that mean that Meg...

**?: Your Meg! She is also a survivor.**

NightDream felt like he was going to vomit. His already broken heart shattered even more at the thought of hurting the woman he loved.

**ND: Who is she?**

**?: I'll keep that one a surprise! I'd love to see the look on your faces when you meet! It'll be a sight for sure! So many emotions in the air! Such hope!**

**ND: You would allow me to see her?**

**?: Of course! I am no monster, NightDream. I am just your god, and a good god rewards their pets.**

**ND: What do you want in return?**

**?: Nothing much. Just have true hope, NightDream! Hope until you are free. One day, I will free you and your mate. As long as you behave for as long as you are here.**

For once in his miserable life, NightDream felt true hope. A genuine smile formed on his face.

**ND: Take me to her. **  
-

Meg stood against a tree, her head down and her arms crossed. She'd been walking around in these woods for days, doing nothing but thinking and getting to know herself. She was trying her best to get over NightDream, but it wasn't so easy. She had a lot of confidence when she stomped out here, but now that there was only silence and she was left alone with her thoughts, she found it impossible to think of anything but him.

She missed him so much. She wanted nothing more than to see him.

It was very lucky Meg no longer needed to eat, otherwise she'd probably have starved to death out here, because she was very lost. She had gone in circles for the past two days, trying to find a way back to the clearing but she had no idea where she was.

But worst of all... she felt empty. She had completely lost all hope. Hope had always been something she clung to desperately during the days before the phone. Hope that one day she would escape. That she would find her mother and they would be a family again. She could be genuinely happy.

That future was nothing but a fantasy to her now. She knew that it would never come true, and she was still in the process of accepting that. It was so hard. It was so hard to do things alone.

But suddenly she wasn't alone. She was so very not alone.

**"Hello, Meg Thomas!"**

It was nothing but a voice, but the absolutely suffocating presence of the Entity filled every single one of her senses. She tried to breathe but choked on it. She was completely overwhelmed.

The presence waved a little and she took a huge gulp of air, coughing violently with her hands on her knees.

**"My apologies, Meg Thomas, I don't visit my other pets very often, I forget they lack the ability to perceive me without granting said ability."**

Meg glared up around her, feeling the clicking and growling of a being around her that seemed to come from everywhere. She didn't know where to look, but it didn't matter, did it?

"What do you want? I am not going back to he trials! You can kill me right here, right now, but I will not go back!" Meg spat, standing in a very defensive position with her eyes darting all around her.

**"Oh, is that so? Not even with a little persuasion?"**

"There is nothing you could possibly offer me!"

**"How about your NightDream?"**

Meg froze, her eyes getting even wider in shock, "What? You... You can do that?"

**"Of course! It's hilarious! Your NightDream spoke the same words. You two are very alike in many ways. Such an interesting pair."**

Meg shook her head, lowering her eyes to the ground, "Does that mean you'd have to pull him from the real world?"

**"Of course not! He is a killer in my realm after all!"**

**WHAT?!**

Meg's jaw dropped. NightDream was a killer? A KILLER? No wonder they wouldn't talk about who they were! Everything made so much sense now! Why they were so cryptic, why they shrugged off Claudette's talk about the Entity. He was trying to hide the fact he was a killer. He was ashamed.

Meg couldn't help but wonder how many times he had killed her. Whoever he was. There were several male killers.

But if he was a killer... that mean that he was a bad person, didn't it? He was a murderer! He had killed Meg herself who knows how many times! Why the hell would she want to be with someone like that?

When she tried to ponder on it, all that was coming to mind is all the time they spent together. She couldn't stop thinking about how much she still loved him. How desperately she wanted to see him.

She just had to ask.

"Which one is he? Does he... Does he enjoy killing people?"

Somehow the voice managed to roll it's eyes and Meg had no idea how she even could pick up on that, **"Your NightDream? No. He despises it, actually. I had to torture him for years before he would even pick up his weapon! But all it takes is a little persuasion. Everyone changes their mind eventually. It's just a matter of how much pain they can bear."**

Meg sighed with relief. He was still a murderer. She had no doubt in her mind that he was not a good person, but there was a possibility to change. To get better. She could help him. At least she wasn't in love with some sicko who gets his kicks torturing other people. She was ready to face any challenge as long as he was by her side. She wanted to see him desperately. To finally meet the man she had spent the past several months slowly falling in love with.

She was ready.

There was a forest.

It was not unlike the forest the survivors found themselves dwelling in between trials. If Meg looked hard enough, she had no doubt in her mind that she might even stumble upon the same clearing she had made a home out of for months.

But she was looking for something else today.

She stepped through the woods carefully with her eyes peeled. The man she loved was someone in this forest, and she intended to find him.

A list of all of the killers was filing through her head. There were so many possibilities. She didn't exactly have any opportunities to get to know the killers before, so frankly she had no idea what any of them were like. It really could be anyone.

"NightDream!"

The killer who had lived a life full of regret made his way through this unfamiliar forest. His Meg could be anywhere. She could be anyone. He only knew that it couldn't be the small black girl, because she was CrytalFeather.

So much had happened these past few months. He was so confused. But this felt so right. He felt that deep down, he was brought into this world for this. Every second he spent suffering in life and death had all lead to this very moment.

"NightDream!"

He heard a female voice echo through the trees. He snapped his head towards the sound, and couldn't help but think that it sounded quite familiar. He turned and quickly made his way towards the source of the sound. His Meg.

"Meg!"

A deep voice called through the trees. She jumped, turning her head to the approaching calls and footsteps coming from behind her. She turned around, somehow finding herself in the clearing. The very same clearing that she felt so safe in. It turns out she didn't have to look at all. it came to her.

And so did he.

She could see the silhouette of a person in the shadows. They were masked by the darkness of the overhead leaves but slivers of moonlight managed to break through and shined on NightDream. She couldn't see his face, but she could see flashes of white.

He saw her standing there in the clearing it. She was facing him with wide eyes filled with wonder.

It was her?

The red-head that was always a huge pain in his ass? No wonder he recognized her voice. He just wasn't used to hearing that voice without it's taunting tone.

He would have never admitted it before, but he had always found her interesting, and as she stood there in the middle of the clearing with her red hair a wild mess around her head and her bright blue eyes that were filled with wonder resting on him, he couldn't think anything else other than the fact that standing before him right now was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his entire existence.

He went to her.

As NightDream slowly stepped out of the shadows and revealed himself after months of getting to know him, slowly falling in love with him, and feeling closer to him than any other person she'd ever met, Meg's eyes shot open and she gasped with pure, unadulterated shock at just exactly who the man standing before her was.

It was The Trapper.


	10. Chapter 10

Meg just stood there with her eyes wide in shock. She had no idea how exactly to react to this revelation. She had no idea that NightDream, the person she'd spent hours upon hours with, was The Trapper of all people?

Somewhere in the back of her mind she recalled the time when she had been hiding in a locker. The Trapper had shown remorse then for what he'd done. He had seemed extremely unhappy, like he was just going through the motions. The Entity had also said that he had hated killing as well.

Everything… just kind of fell into place after that.

The Trapper stood there looking at her, his face covered by that creepy smiling mask that he always wore. Was it a choice to wear that? She really hoped it wasn't welded to his face or something. He looked away and seemed to be gathering himself before raising one of his hands and bringing it to his face. He slid a finger underneath his mask and untied it quietly. He slowly pulled the mask off of his face with both hands and held it down by his waist. Meg stared at the mask for a moment before her eyes slowly trailed up his body and rested on his face.

He was an extremely large man, that was one obvious trait about him that she couldn't ignore. He had to be almost a foot taller than her at the very least. He had round brown eyes and a large nose with a scar running across it. He had scars all over his body in fact, now that she was getting a better look at him.

He was also completely bald, but she knew that already. Lastly, he had a really sharp jawline that framed a very square face, but it suited his very rough exterior. He looked really intimidating and threatening on the outside, but Meg knew better than to fall for that lie.

His eyebrows were furrowed on his forehead and he looked really nervous and insecure, but he looked right into Meg's eyes and held the contact. Meg could tell that this really was a lot for him, and it was for her too, but she kept reminding herself that she'd been dreaming of this day for a long time, and the shock of seeing what NightDream looked like did nothing to sway how she felt, or to discourage what she wanted from him. In fact, only the initial shock began to fade, she couldn't help but realize how much she enjoyed looking at him.

Meg took a few cautious steps towards him. She wanted to take this slow considering how big of a moment this was. The Trapper raised his head and watched her make her way towards him. He took a few steps of his own and they met in the middle. Meg looked up at him and he looked down at her.

Meg gently closed the gap between them, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her face against his chest, holding him tightly. He moved his arms out of the way and blinked at her a few times. He hesitated, but eventually returned the hug, holding her against him and resting his chin on top of her head.

They stayed like this for who knows how long, but when Meg eventually pulled away it still wasn't enough, but the Trapper accepted it and they looked at each other again.

"I thought you'd be taller." Meg chuckled, giving him a giddy look.

He smiled at her and tilted his head, "Yeah, I'll have to agree with you there."

Meg punched him in the arm playfully and laughed, "Hey! I'll have you know I'm the tallest in my family!"

"Short family I guess!"

They laughed together and smiled at each other again warmly. This was good. It was like nothing changed between them, like they were talking through the phone again just like always.

But this time, he was right in front of her. This was real. He was real.

Meg reached up and pulled him into another hug, this time tighter and almost desperate. He returned the embrace without any hesitation.

Hundreds of questions were flying through Meg's head as they held each other. She chose a few of the most important ones.

"What's your real name?"

"Evan Macmillan"

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-nine."

"Who's Randy?"

He chuckled a little before responding, "Randy is a new killer. You don't know him yet."

"God. That means a new survivor too. Poor souls."

"Don't feel so sorry for Randy, I think he might really enjoy killing people. It might be sexual for him too."

"Fuck."

This time it was Evan who pulled away first, "Meg, listen… about what I did…"

Meg shook her head, grabbing his hand and holding it between both of hers, "It's okay Evan, I understand. It's okay."

He put his free hand on top of hers, frowning, "No, this is serious. I shouldn't have done that to you. It wasn't fair for me to block you without warning like that. I Panicked, and it was wrong of me. I'm so sorry."

Meg found it difficult to look him in the eye when he said that. He looked so… sad. Evan Macmillan was a very complicated and sad man, and Meg was more than willing to help him through his issues and insecurities. She wanted to give him everything he was deprived in life and in death.

Without really thinking about it, because she'd done enough thinking for an entire lifetime, she stood up on her toes and caressed his face, slowly moving her lips towards his. He looked surprised for a split second but realized what was happening quickly. It was sad to see him not expect to be shown affection, but that was something Meg was very willing to show he deserved.  
Evan also raised a hand and cupped her cheek, leaning down to meet her halfway.

**"Isn't this adorable?"**

Before they had the chance to kiss they were interrupted by the booming voice all around them. The ground shook with the force of it. Evan instinctively pulled Meg close to him, putting her behind him to keep her away from the Entity.

**"I've been cooking up an experiment for myself along side the other's i've been conducting! Would you like to see?"**

"Leave us alone!" Evan yelled up at the voice, fear and anger plastered on his face.

Meg didn't like being shoved away from the confrontation like this, but she couldn't help but feel safer with Evan protecting her. It was the first time in a long time she'd felt security like this. Selfishly, she let Evan hold her behind him. \

Suddenly the presence faded almost. Well… not so much as faded but localized. Across from them, the mist swirled around in place across the clearing. The clicking and growling sounds of the Entity contorted and twisted into one space, the dark mist getting thicker and thicker until suddenly it dispersed quickly, and in it's place stood something that resembled a man, but was far from one.

He had dark skin and piercing black eyes. Along his slender form was a black suit that hung neatly from his frame. He also had short slick black hair with a few stray strands handing in his face and a sharp chin with a very neatly trimmed goatee just above his long neck.

He took a few steps towards them.

**"Do you like it? I've been experimenting with new ways to interact with my pets! This would be a much more pleasant way to keep an eye on them, don't you think?"** He gave them a wide grin that revealed his pure white teeth underneath his dark lips. Every single detail on him screamed danger, and Meg found herself extremely unsettled by the Entity taking the form of a man. If she wasn't so nervous she might have even been offended.

Meg had lost hope before, but now that NightDream was standing right next to her with his arms around her, she now had something to live for. She had found her lost hope, and she was scared to lose it.

The Entity stood up straight and put his hands behind his back, glaring at them with what seemed like a permanent sinister grin. He walked the rest of the way towards them, **"Well, you've had your moments together! It's time to return to the trials and continue to obey."**

Meg stopped breathing at his words. Her heart skipped several beats.

Evan got into a defensive stance, holding Meg securely behind him and an almost feral snarl coming out of him as he faced the Entity.

The Entity looked at him up and down, shaking his head, "**This is no way to treat your master, Trapper."**

What happened next Meg barely had time to register. It all happened so fast.

Evan swung at the Entity, completely prepared to fight him so he could stay with Meg. It was so stupid of him, but what other choice did he have? He was angry, and Evan didn't think things through at the best of times, so throwing all these new unfamiliar emotions at him certainly did him no favors.

With the barely noticeable flick of the being wrist, Evan went flying to the side and crashed against a tree at the other side of the clearing. Meg screamed and ran towards him but The Entity snapped and suddenly everything went dark.

When Meg opened her eyes, she was sitting next to the other survivors with the flicking light from the campfire illuminating the tears on her face.


	11. Chapter 11

Three weeks. It had been three weeks since the day The Entity had slammed Evan against a tree and sent Meg back to the campfire with nothing left but despair and tears. She hadn't said one word to anyone, not even Claudette, her closest friend. She wanted to, but what could she possibly say? There were no words in the English language that she could string together to describe to gut wrenching loneliness and sense of loss that plagued Meg's every waking moment.

Meg rolled over onto her side and tucked her hands under her head. She hadn't had a decent night's sleep in weeks, so she didn't even know why she bothered. She sighed and sat up, shakily rising to her feet and walking over to a tree on the edge of the clearing where the campfire and the motionless forms of her fellow survivors resided. She leaned against it and lowered her head in thought, her mind skimming over the past several weeks in her mind on a constant loop.

"Oi, what'cha doin' up at this hour, Meg?"

The red head lifted her eyes to see David walking towards her, his hands in his jacket pockets. Meg brushed a few strands of hair behind her ears and crossed her arms, avoiding his questioning gaze, "Just thinking."

He leaned against a tree next to hers, turning his attention to the ground, "You know, if you need to talk about whatever the hell happened to you while you were gone, you're among friends here, you know that right?" He let out a breath that could have been a chuckle, "Us survivor gotta stick together, don't we? We're all we got."

"I just don't even know what to say. It's not like I don't want to talk about it, it's just that I don't think any of you would understand. This is something I just have to deal with on my own."

She saw David look up at her from the corner of her eye, "I've been where you are, Meg. The loneliness is suffocatin' and it feels like you can't breathe, right? Well believe me when I tell you," his gaze drifted over the sleeping form of the most recent addition to their team, her curly blonde hair puffed around her face as she slept, "You have to let others share your pain if they're willing. Whatever happened, it was quite obviously a lot, and it's not somethin' you can carry on your own, bruv. Trust me, I've been where you are."

Meg let out a disbelieving chuckle that held no humor, "I really doubt that."

"Regardless," He stood up straight and took a few steps away, stopping to throw over his shoulder before leaving, "My words still hold true. I'll give you space now, but consider what I said. Cheers."

When he returned to Kate's side, Meg felt his presence leave her side like it had been sucked out of the air with a vacuum and the emptiness settled back into it's place in her heart. She hadn't even realized that it had gone when David had come over. She clenched her fists in frustration and kicked the tree she was against with her heel. David wad right, of course he was right. She knew she was being ridiculous just stewing in her own pain alone, but it was all she had to remember that everything was real. That Evan had existed, and that their love was real, but she didn't need pain to remember that, did she? She felt the pressure in her stomach lessen slightly as she came to a decision. She was going to tell the others. They had a right to know, after all. They had been to hell and back together, died together, saved each other's lives, and while Meg hadn't felt any connection to then prior to meeting The Trapper, she knew now what she truly had in this hell hole. Just maybe, together, they could set this right. Maybe. Meg lowered herself to the ground and brought her knees to her chest, content to wait for the others to rise so she could finally tell them what they deserved to know, and what she desperately needed to talk about. The sound of the slight breeze rustling the leaves above her relaxed her just enough for her to get lost in her mind once again.

The trials would be starting soon, and Meg had sat against that same tree for hours wondering to herself how she was going to tell these people what she'd been doing for the past several months. Why she'd come back closed off and shutting everyone out violently from her every waking moment, including her best friend, Claudette who was the first person she needed to tell, just to test the waters. She raised her head to see the dark haired girl speaking to Nea, a smile on her face. They were laughing and whispering to themselves and seemed like they were genuinely having a nice conversation. A good time. Meg missed that more than she realized.

While laughing, Claudette sent Meg a passing glance and did a double take when she caught the red-head looking in her direction sadly. Meg's eyes went wide for a second before she looked away, slightly embarrassed. Claudette excused herself from the conversation with Nea who just shrugged and turned away. Claudette began making her way towards Meg who drew her knees closer to herself, her heart racing at one-hundred miles an hour. How would she even start? She wasn't ready. She needed more-

"Hey, Meg."

Claudette lowered herself next to Meg and crossed her legs, fiddling with the bottom of her pants as she looked over to the grieving girl next to her, "What's on your mind?"

Meg sighed and straightened her legs out, her hands plopping on the ground next to her, "God, where do I even begin?"

"Talk to me."

And so she did.

Meg started from the beginning, filling in all the blanks that the smaller girl didn't know about. She told her about NightDream blocking her, she told her about their arguments, and finally, about their meeting.

"You met him?" Claudette let out a breath in disbelief, "Wh- how...?"

Meg gave an empty smile and trained her gaze to the ground, "NightDream was in The Nightmare all along. It seems like a few people here got cell phones, it wasn't just us."

Claudette's jaw dropped in shock. She stared at Meg, unable to breathe until she looked away and adjusted the glasses on her nose, "NightDream is a survivor? How is that even possible? None of the others have been disappearing like we-"

"He's not a survivor."

Brown eyes snapped to blue, a shine of fear and worry flashing in them for a brief moment, "He's... You're not saying what I think you are."

Meg matched her gaze and gave another heartless smile, "I am. He's a killer. He's killed you, he's killed me, he's killed all of us hundreds of times."

Claudette looked like she didn't know if she wanted to be mad or shocked, and she seemed to settle for an unstable mix of both, "i don't... I can't even... Process this! A killer! You fell in love with-" She stood to her feet and began pacing in front of the red-head with her hand on her forehead in disbelief, "A killer!"

Meg scrambled up next to her and put a hand on her arm, "Shhh! The others don't know about any of this!"

Claudette snatched her arm away and stared at her, seeming to finally settle on anger, "Well they should! This is wrong, Meg!" She wanted to scream but forced herself to whisper-yell instead, "How the fuck could you fall in love with a killer of all the people! A fucking murderer Meg!"

"I knew exactly what I was getting myself into, Claudette! But he's... he's not a killer, well, I mean he is, but... it's not like that. He's different!"

"Different?! He murders people, Meg!"

"He doesn't want to!" Meg spat. Claudette crossed her arms and glared at the taller girl, waiting for an explanation. Meg sighed again and lowered her head, "Claudette, some of the killers are just like us. Just like how we don't have a choice to be in the trials, the killers don't either!"

Claudette seemed to hesitate at that, the anger fading from her features slightly, "...Really? I guess I never even thought of that. I just figured they all wanted to be here." Claudette lowered her hands and gave Meg a sad look, "Which... Which one is he?"

"The Trapper."

She looked surprised, "The Trapper? He could throw all four survivors across the map at once if he wanted to! I never even considered the killers people- I mean, he's such a huge scary looking guy, I just thought..." She trailed off in thought. Meg had to guess she was recalling all the conversations she's had with Evan herself, all the good times and chats they'd had.

"His name is Evan."

"Evan. Ha, that's so fitting. God damn it." Claudette began pacing again and thinking to herself, then remembered that Meg had been sulking for weeks for a reason, "What happened when you two met? Did he hurt you?"

Meg flinched, "No! No, he would never do that. It was The Entity. He took the form of a man and said that we weren't allowed to see each other, and he was going to take Evan away from me and he got mad and-" Meg's breath hitched in her throat and she choked back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes any second, "We haven't seen him in trials since then, Claudette. What if The Entity killed him? What if he's dead and ill never see him again?"

Claudette pulled Meg into a hug and held her tight, patting her on the back and offering what little comfort that she could, "I'm sure he's okay, Meg. Maybe he's just in trouble? Maybe The Clown has just been taking his place as punishment? he is new after all, maybe he has to, i don't know, prove himself?"

"I hope you're right." She sniffled and pulled away from the shorter girl after a few more moments, wiping her eyes.

Claudette decided to address the elephant in the room, "Are you going to tell the others?"

"Yes, I'm going to. I just needed to tell you first." Meg frowned and looked into Claudette's eyes, "They're not going to take it well, are they?"

She shook her head, "I don't think so, but it's the right thing to do. They deserve to know."

Meg nodded and stood up straight, finally feeling a little bit of courage flow back through her after all this time, "You're right. I'm going to tell them now." She smiled and gave the smaller girl another quick hug, "Thank you for understanding, Claudette. You're a true friend."

She smiled and gave Meg a playful punch, "Of course, dummy. I won't even pretend to understand what this all means, and I'm not sure how i'm going to completely re-evaluate everything I know about killers, but maybe that's what we all need to do. It's time that we begin to figure things out. Maybe we can even go a little nuts and hope that we just might be able to get out of here one day?"

Meg laughed and gave her a genuine smile, "That's what I like to hear!" she turned away and let her eyes trail over the other survivors as they went about their business, finding small moments of happiness among each other before the trials began. She took a deep breath and started walking towards the campfire, "Time to put everything on the line."


End file.
